The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 feels like the perfect release, tying together all elements of Lord Huron’s albums.
Lord Huron is a Los Angeles based indie-rock band, comprised of lead vocalist Ben Schneider, bassist Miguel Briseno, drummer Mark Barry and guitarist Tom Renaud. You may have heard of them through their most streamed song ‘The Night We Met’ which gained popularity after being featured in the Netflix drama Thirteen Reasons Why.
On July 18th Lord Huron released their fifth studio album entitled The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1. The album seemingly shares elements of all the previous albums, with some songs leaning more into the darkness of Vide Noir and others sharing the brighter feel to Strange Trails.
1. Looking Back
Looking Back appears to be the narrative of a person who lost part of themselves with a presumable lover, despite wanting to spend their days alone it appears they cannot let go of their past self. “Spent my whole life looking back and wondering who I was”. After facing the realisation that they shall never see their love again, they choose to spend their listless life living in some sort of void, degrading their soul through drink and drugs. The narrator seems not to worry about tangible finance but about owing a much larger debt to the universe “maybe I can pay my cosmic debt before I turn to dust” knowing they must restore the balance of the spiritual boundaries they have crossed, “living outside the lies of my body and mind”, in their loneliness.
2. Bag of Bones
This song takes on a much faster pace than Looking Back but appears to have some continuity in themes. Seemingly from the same perspective who watches on their lover’s fresh start “I was outside looking in again”. The line suggesting that not only have they been excluded from ever knowing their partner again, but also they exist in the void, described in Looking Back, of their empty life. The repetition of “Just a rattlin’ bag of bones” falls in line with the fact this narrator feels purposeless without this relationship despite the other half “doing just fine without”. Like in Looking Back the song concludes with the speaker staring into “a sky so full of stars” and questioning their existence.
3. Nothing I Need
The music video of Nothing I Need depicts a man who ‘falls asleep’ at the wheel and when he wakes it’s to a brighter world with a woman’s face following him everywhere. “But I see her face everywhere I go” implies the narrator he is being haunted by a past lover who they left for the “goddamn road”. This almost drug-induced trance in which he finds this woman may suggest that perhaps the narrator lost his lover because he “fell in deep” with drugs. Now the elatedness of being stoned is “everything” he wants but, deep down, to be loved is what “I need”. Perhaps the fact this woman is only ever a face is symbolic of the fact the narrator, because of the addiction, can never fully know his lover again.
4. Is There Anybody Out There
This song’s pace matches that of Looking Back, the speaker appears to be voicing this message in the void of loneliness that they reside in. Imploringly they ask “Is there anybody out there?” as they beg to have their sound heard, but instead are faced with the realisation that they are entirely alone “it was only my own face”. A recurring theme across the album is the metaphorical phone with which the speakers try to contact the outside world, this narrator is reduced to hoping their “signal is loud and clear”. Now typical of this void-like world, the speaker ends by staring “out into space”, trying to find someone while simultaneously accepting their alone.
5. Who Laughs Last (feat. Kristen Stewart)
Kristen Stewart and Lord Huron come together in an incredible collaboration, this song now featuring two speakers instead of just one. Kristen Stewart’s character appears to be endlessly driving, perhaps running away from the past of their broken relationship, focused on “the long white lines”, in this recurring void. Similar to the previous songs the sky held “a terrifying number of stars” for the speaker to get lost in as they stare up in hope of something more. Lord Huron’s speaker, however, may be the voice of the other partner who has finally gained their freedom “I sure like the feeling of an endless road” and is living life to the fullest. The music video gives us visual of Lord Huron’s speaker driving fast, almost arguing the lyrics, as if they’re trying to tell the character of Kristen Stewart to leave them be.
6. The Comedian
The speaker in The Comedian perhaps has now left their empty void and resorted to communicating through “letter”. However, upon returning to the everday they’ve come to discover that the “city” has moved on while their life has come to a halt. They grapple with the idea that despite the fact they “survived” their opportunities are no longer limitless. Getting lost in their loneliness, for them, has only brought more misery of “squandered dreams” and being forced to live day by day rather than the fast-tracked life of someone who has their “name in the lights”.
7. Watch Me Go
The tone of the music picks up in Watch Me Go, the narrator wakes up to the fact that they need to keep on living as they “don’t wanna die slow”. They appear to realise that the person they’ve allowed themselves to be with could “end my life”. Realising they are at danger of “becoming” something they are not means they need to allow themselves to reject what is killing them. Repeating “watch me go” emphasises the impact their leaving will have on the way they can live their life, the song suggesting a rejuvenation of the speaker.
8. Fire Eternal (feat. Kazu Makino)
In Fire Eternal we once again have two speakers, they appear to be lovers trying to lure each other back, realising they will always been “in love with” eachother. Kazu Makino’s unearthly vocals give the imagery of a siren baiting Lord Huron’s speaker “our love was endless, it can never be undone”. Despite the harm they may cause each other, their love is indeed “eternal”, and so they tie each other down, for better or worse.
9. It All Comes Back
This song has a more melancholic tone with imagery of the speaker “staring into the fire” with only the endless “darkness” to keep them company. The narrative may be that the speaker has been betrayed by a partner that they would rather “die than lie to”. Ultimately, all attempts to move past them result in “loops in my mind” as everytime “it all comes back” to that one person. Every hope of reigniting that love is crushed by the oncoming emptiness and darkness they are forced to live in.
10. Used To Know
Used To Know appears to be the speaker warning another to stay away from them, for fear that history would repeat itself, through the imagery of seeing the lover again with a ghost of their past self. “If I ever give back what you gave me Take it and run away as far as you can go”. Perhaps the narrator is a man changed for the worse and therefore does not wish for their partner to know them in this current state, despite still loving them “my mind will fade, my heart will break”.
11. Digging Up The Past
The speaker here seems to be walking to their death, the only thing keeping them going is something as intangible as a memory. This senseless void appears to have made a return on the living earth, but now the void is one that speaks to grief and last as the narrator walks to a “grave”. The aching loneliness of losing someone has left them purposeless, wandering earth with “nothing left” to keep them alive. The “voices” being void of meaning perhaps are symbolic of those trying to comfort an inconsolable loss.
12. Life Is Strange
Life is Strange is a song of acceptance that you may as well live a “strange life” because in the end “we all turn to dust”. Here the speaker may be communicating with someone who does not respond, perhaps carrying over the grief from the previous song, as they “wait forever” to join them in death, but in the meantime spend their days beside the grave. However, this song could also speak of waiting for someone to love them back, encouraging them to “make their own way” in their own time. Meanwhile, the speaker is willing to stay in the same place to await their coming.
An Overall
An incredible listen! The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1 epitomises Lord Huron’s versatility in making music, the tone and lyricism behind each song carrying it’s own emotional meaning. The album encapsulated many themes: the loss of a relationships, loneliness, and grief. Considering that the album title contains ‘Vol. 1’ I can only hope that Lord Huron have even more music coming. But for now The Cosmic Selector has been a truly enjoyable album!
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